Iranian demonstrators walk along Azadi Avenue, decorated with Iranian flags, to mark the 46th anniversary of the victory of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution in western Tehran, Iran, February 10, 2025. (Photo: Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto)
While there has been a well-documented groundswell of Iranians opposing the current regime, tens of thousands showed up yesterday to celebrate the 46th year since the overthrow of the US-supported Shah in 1979 at the hands of Islamic revolutionaries.
Banners declaring ‘Death to America’ and ‘Death to Israel’ were carried in the streets of Tehran as huge crowds gathered in support of the Islamic Regime.
Both American and Israeli flags were burned during the rally. Images have emerged of effigies of Trump and Netanyahu in huge cages, and one with a rope around the neck of the Israeli Prime Minister along with an announcement of his funeral.
Schools were closed for the official holiday and national media broadcasting the events urged people to come out onto the streets for the celebrations. Balloons were flying while children were dressed as the Ayatollah, celebrating alongside replicas of Iranian missiles proudly on display by the military.
The theocratic Shiite regime, now led by Ayatollah Khamenei, was voted into power after the Shah’s government finally on Feb. 11,1979.
However, this year’s celebrations are happening under a cloud with President Donald Trump back in power, determined to reimpose “maximum pressure” through strict sanctions on Iran.
The Islamic regime is also still smarting after their two direct attacks on Israel were foiled completely by the Iron Dome defense system and with help from Israel’s allies, and lost most of their air defense system along weapons production facilities in Israeli reprisals after the attacks.
A huge sign brandished at the rally announcing Netanyahu’s funeral shows that anti-Israel sentiment is alive and well in Iran.
The son of the ousted Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi posted on 𝕏 that the anniversary “marks the beginning of a painful descent into the depths of hell for the Islamic Republic.”
He continued, “the country has fallen from the path of progress and prosperity,” adding that “freedom has been murdered in the name of religion; parks have been destroyed and cemeteries have been built; insecurity, repression, and discrimination have replaced security, order, and law; women have become second-class citizens; religious freedom has been lost; and the apocalyptic illusions of a reactionary group have linked the honorable name of Iran to chaos and terrorism; Iran’s national currency has become worthless day by day and our people have become poorer day by day.”
He described the overthrowing of the monarchy in 1979 as a “revolt by the infamous alliance of red and black reaction against rationalism and patriotism,” with black and red representing the ideologies of Islamism and Communism, and assured followers that the counter-revolution was in hand.
The Times of Israel quoted Mohsen Amini, a 48-year-old teacher, as saying, “I know there are a lot of economic problems in the country, but I am here to say we will support our country regardless of threats by Trump and Israelis.”
Another woman named Hamideh Zamani, agreed with the sentiment: “We will resist any threat by the West without any fear,” she said. “We learned this from our fathers to devote ourselves for the cause of the Islamic Republic.”
While the threat of sanctions looms, President Trump has expressed a preference for peaceful negotiations rather than military action to prevent Iran gaining nuclear capability.
“I want Iran to be a great and successful Country, but one that cannot have a Nuclear Weapon. Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens, ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED,” Trump stated in a post on his Truth Social platform last Wednesday.
“I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper,” he wrote.
However, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed the idea of negotiations with the U.S. as “not intelligent, wise or honorable,” saying that “there should be no negotiations with such a government.”.
